The disappointing allocation for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in the FY 2022-23 budget has created a buzz. Organisations such as the All India Kisan Sabha and NREGA Sangharsh Morcha (NSM) have raised concerns about the inadequacy of the amount. Grassroots activists and academics have been demanding higher budgetary allocations for MGNREGA; yet, the actual allocations have been considerably lower and severely inadequate to meet needs. The initial allocations in the past two FYs have been just about half of what was recommended by groups like the People’s Action for Employment Guarantee (PAEG) and NSM.
Consequently, the consistent shortage of funds has caused a situation endemic to MGNREGA — that of deficits for State governments, long delays in wage payments, decline in the work provided in the last two quarters of the FYs, and significant pending dues at the end of the FYs. In FY 2021-22, a tracker released by PAEG showed that the initial amount allocated was nearly exhausted by September, and many States were running a negative balance. For FY 2022-23, PAEG had recommended a minimal allocation of ₹2.64 lakh crore, and NSM had recommended ₹3.64 lakh crore, but the government has allocated only ₹73,000 crore. In its recent statement, NSM has argued that this amount provides for only 16 days of employment to all the active job card-holding households.
Why is the government’s allocation so much lower than what State governments ask for and civil society actors recommend? This question merits scrutiny of the way the government estimates persondays. A closer look at the Centre’s MGNREGA budget estimation in FY 2021-22 sheds some light on this.
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